"Vision"
featuring Takanori Iwata
will be released nationwide from 6/8 (Fri.)!!

Director Naomi Kawase who receives high praise around the world directs this movie "Vision" the story of which happens in her home area, Nara Prefecture. It stars renowned French actress Juliette Binoche, who won Actress Awards in all the three major film festivals around the world, and Japanese actor Masatoshi Nagase who is also very popular around the world.
Takanori Iwata plays a young "mountain guardian" named Rin who lives in the mountain!

Story

Janne (Juliette Binoche) is a French essayist who likes to record her trips around the world in her essays.
In order to do a certain research, she comes to Mount Yoshino with her assistant Hana (Minami).
The mountain man Satoshi (Masatoshi Nagase) lives in this mountain covered by cedars. As the old lady Aki (Mari Natsuki) predicts, since Jeanne enters the mountain and encounters him, the two gradually build a close relationship after overcoming cultural differences.
Apart from Satoshi, mountain guardian Rin (Takanori Iwata), hunter Take (Mirai Moriyama) and Gen (Min Tanaka) also live in the mountain to protect it.
Their destinies cross together in an unexpected way...
Why does Jeanne visit this mysterious land with beautiful natural scenery?
What kind of future Satoshi saw while living in the mountain...

Message from Takanori Iwata

I met director Kawase for the first time at last year's film festival. I told her "I really want to cooperate with you if possible." But I didn't expect it could come true after such a short time. I was really delighted when I received the invitation.
Since not everyone can have a chance to play in an international work, I came to the filming site with the determination of doing my best.
The directing team led by Kawase required all the cast members to get deeper to the characters and to show our true selves.
It is also my first time to say English lines.
At the filming site, I was often asked to improvise which impressed me a lot.
Moreover, I didn't come back to Tokyo but stayed in Nara and Yoshino to experience life in nature until the filming of my part was finished. There was a time when I didn't live in a hotel or an inn but stayed at the filming site. For me, living in a rented room of a local's house is a first-ever experience.
I immersed myself in the role from the beginning to the end. Even if there was no camera around, I still lived in the same way as my character.
All cast members got immersed in roles from the second when we woke up, needless to say during the filming. This kind of requirement of directing team led by Kawase was really exciting and inspiring.
At the filming site, I met Juliette Binoche and Masatoshi Nagase for the first time. It never occurred to me that I could act with these two brilliant artists one day. I remember I was really nervous at that time.
Many of my scenes were filmed with them. I think Juliette Binoche is a great communicator during the filming.
Mr.Nagase has cooperated with director Kawase for three times. I had no idea about many things at the beginning and he told me with patience. He really helped me a lot.
Taking place in Nara and Yoshino of Japan, this work tells varied kinds of love and life existence.
In my opinion, we should convey Japanese traditions, our abundant nature, the mystery and beauty of Japan not only in Japan but tell about them to the whole world.
It's an honor for me to play in "Vision". I have accumulated useful experience as a performer and I gained a broader vision during the filming as an actor from an international perspective.